Player grand piano



1y fimmumw v 1,638,629 1927' c. GULBRANSEN PLAYER GRAND PIANO {41672 HR/of/A/v GuLaRA/voE/v Aug. 9, 1927.

- 1,638,629 c. GULBRANSEN I PLAYER GRAND PIANO Filed Oct.26, 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 9,1921, 629

' C. GULBRANSEN PLAYER GRAND PIANO Filed OCL26, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Au 9 19 I g 27 c. GULBRANSEN PLAYER GRAND PIANO 'Filed 001;.26. 1923 6 SheetB- -Sheet 6 Patented Aug. 9, 1927.

'H svse eii s ls HI A Q I N A S QN n wness c. 1 4

A Y QrCH QaILP O -CB 9 lA lNPF i mers- '1 "PLAYERGRANDIiA NO.

Application filedjOctoberlflfi, .1923. Serial N0N670 875;

My invention relates to agrandpiano with player mechanism incorporated therein.

In putting player mechanism in an upright piano to develop a unitary. structure 0 5 pieasing appearance and etlicientuuechanical arrangement relatively little .difliculty-is ;en

countered because the spaces in-fronthofthe strings above and below the :keyboard are conveniently -:arranged :for housing the Eu tracker bar and ,:roll \vllldlng-lllhfl11l$l1l andthe power mechanism, respectively.

Ina grand piano the frameandstrings are set on three legs and except forytlie lyre supportin'g the foot petlals the entire space i5 below the same is open and unobstructed.

The cover above the strings hasto'be hinge-d to tilt up for acoustical reasons, and this leaves the playing mechanism very much in need of suitable housing facilities. J) grand pianois, furthermore, of a pleasing and regular contour very. much standardized by longusage.

lVIy invention is {primarily concernedwith two, nattersz-Jirst, the mechanical problems p.55 incident to incorporating player .mechanism in this structure without disfigurement thereoflandnwith as little departure from the attractive shape and appearance ofthe original piano as possible, to producev an instrument .io capable ofharmonizing with -themost carefully designed interiors as. distinguished from a more mechanical .music box usingla horizontal piano. frame and strings; and, second, case. oliassembly. and alterationfan l :sfi. access for adjuslment and repair. fl his last includes facilities tor removing and replad ing then o're conspicuous parts of the player mechanism vithout reqi iring the services of a mechanic skilled initl e sp ecialra rt oifadn 'justment and repair of player actionsand pneumatic piano player; actions.

rxd-vantageous control features and correlations between the controls'for playing alsoinvolved; I I I Iii-the accompanying drawings 5 Y l igure lis an isoinetricyietv of a player piano according to the invention l V liig- 9. isa front elevation .otlthe same;

Fi; .3 is a side elevation ot the same;

1 1' tie a bottom plairvievv oft-he piano case with the legs and downwardly projecting parts in section Fig. iris. a transverse section of the pneubv hand and with the player mechanism are N mafia W and cti n;

The

.l igntlis apartiallplan view withithecover removed; t V Fig.7 is an enlarged detail of a connect ing head in section on line 'Y7 of Figs-:83.

d lig. 8 is .asectionon :line 8+8 rot-Fig. .7;

1 Tig.;9'}is a partialvst'rontelevation showing tlre'lllaincontrol connections;.an-d I i Figs. 10, Hand jareifragmentary details of mechanical connections :fO the. control sys tem. i l. K

In the embodiment oflthe/ invention ,selected for illustration, theplayet mechanism itself may conveniently be considered ,as in-adekup of tour :p arts povver linechanisni, storage means, the pneun atic action-.or sjtack, andthe .roll box. 1 In (considering.thelprob le n: itis ell to bear immind.the limitations on: the locations that can ,be assig lito the various parts.

mechanisnnzhas to bebesiole the lyre t o be accessible to the feet of the operator andihe rollbog mustbe in such a, positionsin use, that the operator can see tlie-music sheets. :Subject to these two relatively importantlimitaors fai h/kind mused pe i io itm' the parts is available. 7 S ,Ret erringnqw to Figures 1 to l inclnsi ve, i t. be observedlthat; thepo wer, mechanism a 'r s a e t Pi c l 'i a $b rear "taces'ot the lyrestandards l2. At opposite finds this some of 1 esitliefldep ending bellows l t .to which the foot ped 1 6 are connected suitablev collapsib e linkage 18 .18. Board 1.0contains suitable take passa 'eyvays co 'iiinuniqatin ivitliitubesfifl ex teiigling 1 rearyvarilly acr-o the bottom of. the pneumatic stack :22. :lt will apparent that board his the pianist-secs mine toot pedals carried .therebyran be .ifeinov'e d asza unit siniply unfastening board 10 from standards, 12,: and slipping tl e ends.of tubes 20 (iii the connectors'carrie d byboarld Through connectors ;24,' tubes 2Qfcommun'icate with vlt'ubes 26 leading to the Wind chest ,28ffastenled tothe b otto n ofv the frame v 30 vo'f thegpia no casing. Th e,'nsual bellows The .rewi d pneun atic 38 wltl1 itspriinar'y QQQFF LR Q WW 0. P llmll i t t l 66. Wit out sealin matics, this cuts it ofl from overlie risers 112.

lating the speed of movement of the sheetover the tracker bar. Control 42 is actuated in any suitable or preferred manner as b slide 44 operated by crank arm 46 on snail. 48, and in turn actuates a slide 50 carrying an indicator 52. The primary governor for the motor speed is the usual pneumatic 54 biased by leaf spring 56. This governor is mounted with the wind chest under the frame 30.

Any suitable pneumatic stack may be employed. The one illustrated comprises, briefly, the channel boards 58 and the banks of pneumatics 60 mounted thereon. Brackets 62 provide pintles 64 at opposite sides of the bed 66 and hinged members 68 fastened directly to the stack support the same for pivotal movement on pintles 64. In the position of use, an arm 70 rigid with hinge member 68 is fastened in the position shown in Figure '5' by re'tainin pin 72.

The stack is provide with a rear board 74, a bottom board 76, and a front board 78 to provide complete enclosure on three sides, an when in assembled position a cleat 80 fills the up between rear board 74 and bed ofl the enclosure so as to interfere with t e action of the pneusuch circulatory air currents as might tend to fill the casing with dust and dirt.

The keyboard and'piano action are mounted on a separate action board 82 which carries the pivot strip 84 and the rear cushion 86. The keys are articulated by an elbow joint comprising a pintle 88, the parts of the key coming into abutment at 90. The pianoac tion may be of an suitable ty' e, and as such actions are wel known, a de tailed description thereof is deemed superfluous. It comprises, briefly, the lifter 92 actuating the wippen 94 pivoted at 96, said wippen carrying the usualsticker escapement 98 and fly ack 100 to actuate the hammer 102.

p The hammer rail is divided into two equal sections 104 and 106." Therear end of each key terminates in a projection 108, which Risers 112 constitute means for interconnecting the pneumatic stackand the piano action by simple juxtaposition of the part It will be noted that action board 82 can be freely withdrawn to the left from the position shown in Fig. 5, and that the stack may be swung on its p1vot64'for convenient access thereto or "removal thereof. Risers 112 are su ported on bed 66 and guided through a 0 eat 114. Their upper heads 116 underlie projections 108 when the piano ac- 12101115 placed in proper position, and" their lower heads 118 overlie the striker rods 120 of the pneumatic stacks when the latter is also placed in proper assembled position. Removal of the iano action does not affect the condition of adjustment of the risers, and removal of the pneumatic stack merely lets heads 116 down a trifle to rest on bed 66.

For convenience in the installation and removal of the I neumatic stacks, I provide connectors 121 In cleat 114 normally receiving the ends of short tubes 122 leading from the individual connectors 124 for the pneumatics 60. The stack can be swung back from the position shown in Figure 5 for access without disconnectingtubes 122, and

if it is desired to remove the stack entirely,

these tubes can readily be slipped off either connectors 124 or connectors 121. As these two sets of connectors are both arranged in ali no di culty is encountered in connecting the tubes u again to the ri ht connectors.

The zliunper rail, (see ig. 9) is also sepa rated at 126 into the two parts 128 and Part 130 carries a projection 132 underlying the end of part 12 When playing the piano by hand it is customary "to provide a pedal with connectlons for lifting the entire hammer rail for play ing softly. This is the left-hand pedal 134 actuating rod 136 suitabl connected as by levers 138 and 140 (see ig. 12) pivoted in the piano bed with riser 142 terminating in head 144 under] ing the adjacent ends of both hammer rail sections 106 and 104.

The bass sustaining pedal 146 is in the middle, and actuates rod 148 connected through actuating levers 149 and 150 pivoted at 152, which lever carries head 154 underlying section 128 to raise the bass dampers.

Suitable ring means such as leaf spring 156 overlying the end of lever 150 are provided for normally holding the parts in the position shown in Fig. 9.

The ri ht-hand pedal rod 158 is suitably connecte by levers 160 and 162 (see Fig. 11) pivoted in the'piano bed to riser 164 underlying sectionlSO. By reason of projection 132,- this pedal lifts all of the dampers.

Only one sustaining control is provided for. playing with the pneumatic -mechanism. This comprises manual control crank or finger piece 166. actuating a bell crank 168 through crank 169 and link 172. Bell crank 168 operates riser 171 underlying the end of damper rail 130, whereby it operates to raise section 128 also.

Selective control of the loudness for the sections of the keyboard corresponding to the hammer rail sections 104 and 106 is provided. I have illustrated finger piece 172 and a transmission including link 174, rocker 176, link 178, bell crank and riser 182 for lifting the treble portion of the mentacross the width of the piano,

lJu

. S ring 18a adapted to carry nearlyali the weight ofhainmer rail s'ect1o'n-*104 to make" hammer ra-il 104, with a suitable sa a-1g operation of thepart's gelanveiy easy. Similarly, I have provided finger=piece 18d and a transmission including link 188,1ckei 190, link 192 and bell crank 194* foractuatirlg riser 196 tov lift the bass hammerimir see the roll motor "and" associated transmi-ssion and control parts. I-he*1oll 204 is held in the spacebetween the t vvocasings by" the usual roll holders. p, j

This constitutes the ent-ire" roll box a min my structure which may lie-suitably atmama to the top of the piano easing, or

readily removed therefrom? The-front" of the roll box structure is rearwardly inclined as clearly shown in Figure '3', and a suitable grooved strip 206 is positioned just in front of the same. Slidable panels 208 and 210 may be moved to the position shown in'Figure 1 to completely cover the front of the roll box and form an effective support for" the music to be used when playing without the pneumatic mechanism or slid laterally to either side to expose the roll and roll holding devices, when the pneumatic playing mechanism is to be employed.

To facilitate complete removal of the entire roll box and substitution of an ordinary music rack therefor, I have provided quick detachable connections between the roll box and the stack 22. From cleat 114, tubes 212 extend laterally to either side of the frame 214 and then above the same as at 216 for connection to multiple heads 218. From the tracker bar the corresponding tubes pass out of either end of the roll box to registering heads 220. I s

Referring now to Figures 7 and 8, it will be seen that each head 218 is pierced by a regular pattern of tubular apertures 222,

each aperture receiving a connector 224:, which connector in turn receives the end of one of the tubes 212. Heads 220 contain duplicate passageways similarly arranged, and duplicate connectors to which are connected the tubes 226 running to the roll box. Fastening screws 228 clamp the heads securely together, and a centering pin 230 carried by head 220 and entering-a registering aperture in head 218 prevents assemblyexcept in one predetermined position. To provide a tight seal for passages 222, a suitable gasket 232 with a registering pattern of apertures is interposed between the heads before they are fastened together.

It will be seen that by uncoupling heads 218 from 220, the roll box and heads 220 can be completely removed and laid aside, heads 218 and their connections to cleat 114 and tire pneumatic stack remainin undisttifbedL By rem-eving' tne foot pedals and pumping mechanism as above pointed out, the entire instrument is transformed subst itiit ia'llyinto an ordinary grand piano, as all the otherpartajof the pneumatic mecha nism are mounted cloie 'upunder the bottom of -the pia-noc'as'ing out of sight. It will also'beobvious that any relatively unskilled person can readily connect and disconnect heads 2 18 and 220 in' a short space of time.

'VVit-hoiit further elaboration, the foregb'ing will so fully explain the gist of my invention, that'otl'iers may, by applying cur-- rent knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service,

without eliminating certain features which may properly be'said to constitute the essenan items of novelty involved,'whiclr iteins are intendd ito'be defined and secured to me by the following claims; I claim: V 1. In a player grand piano, a casing,

frame, strings, bed and piano action, a roll box on the top of the. frame serving also as a music stand, a tracker bar in said roll box, a player action fastened to thebottom of the bed, and having striker rods, a cleat fastened to the bottom of the bed above the player action striker rods, vertically slidable extensions in said cleat riding on the player action striker rods and connecting them to the piano keys, pneumatic tubes connected to said player action, connectors in said cleat receiving said tubes, tubes extending from said cleat connectors above the frame, tubes leading from the tracker bar out of said roll box, and detachable connecting means above the frame for connecting the tubes from the tracker bar With the tubes from the cleat.

2. In a player grand piano, a. bed, a player action below said bed, supporting brackets on said bed, a pivotal connection between said action and said brackets, and a set of connectors for the control tubes for said action mounted on the under side of said bed in position to be exposed by said pivotal movement of said bed.

3. In a player grand piano, a bed, a player action below said bed, supporting brackets on said bed, a pivotal connection between said action and said brackets, set of connectors for the control tubes for said action mounted on the underside of said bed in position to be exposed by said pivotal movement of said action, a tracker bar, and tubes leading from said connectors to said tracker bar.

4. In a player grand piano, a bed, a keyboard and piano act-ion entirely above the bed, a player action entirely below the bed, connections mounted in the bed independent of both actions for interconnecting them, a pivotal support for said player action for .framc extending downwardly swinging it to one side to gain access to said connections, and control tubes leaving said player action a short distance below -the pivotal axis. 5. In a player grandpiano, board and piano, action entirel above t bed, a playeraction entirely be ow the bed, connections mounted in the bed independent of both actions for interconnecting them, a pivotal support for said player action for swinging it to one side to gain access to said connect-ions, control tubes leaving said player action a short distance below the pivotal axis, and connectors for said tubes mounted ontheunderside of the bed at one side of said pivotal axis.

6. In a player grand piano, the edal lyre rom the piano body, a pneumatic action-extending across under the piano bed behind saidvlyre frame, a supporting board extending teensversely of and secured to the lyre framqbea bed, a keg-l low the piano bed a pair of pumpi bel lows secured to said board at either s i de of said lyre frame, and foldable pedal structures supported on said bellows.

7. In a player piano, a bed, a player ac- CHRISTIAN GULBRANSEN. 

